Behold your God (Thought for February 2022)

This is how Isaiah 40:9 ends, if you read it in the ESV, for instance. The NIV translates “Behold” as “Here [is]”, which is fine, but here I think “behold” is a better choice. If you look at v10, you have the same word translated “See” by the NIV. And that is what we are called to do here: to “see” God. Not in a cursory way, like a quick glance in the mirror. Not in a scrutinising way, as if we were dissecting an insect out of mere curiosity. Rather, beholding Him, meditating on Him, reminding ourselves of Who He is and what He is like.

Read the entire chapter (now would be a good time!), and “Behold your God”, Believer!

Why is the Lord commanding the heralds of good news (those who preach to God’s people) to tell Judah, “Behold your God”? Because they are downhearted in their exile from their land. They are far from home, and they are wondering whether even God has abandoned them. Psalm 137:4 gives voice to their crisis of faith: How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? To that context Isaiah prophesies, and says: “Behold your God”. They are still “his flock” and even in their exile He tends them like a shepherd (v11), and He promises to restore them to Himself and bring them home; their “hard service” is coming to an end, because their “sin has been paid for” (see v1-2).

Now, my brothers and sisters, this is an apt way of seeing ourselves: exiled from Eden for our
sins, the sins for which Christ paid entirely, and marching towards the re-stored world, our home-land—yet not forgotten or abandoned by our Lord, even as we wait the fulfilment of these things; see James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:1 for this same perspective on the church. So are you weary of life on earth? “Behold your God.” Even in exile, He is your shepherd. Re-member that this is how Jesus described Himself. So hear Him here, and in Psalm 23, and every-where else in Scripture. Is there no song of worship in you, like in Psalm 137:4? “Behold your God”—is He not the One Who has no equal? Is He not the One Who paid for all your sins, to restore you to Himself? Are you not in the palm of His hands?

Do you feel abandoned by God in your struggles? “Behold your God”—meditating on Isaiah 40:27-31 is a good a place to start as any. Remember: you’re not home yet. In this world, you will have tribulation. But behold the One Who has over-come the world. Trust in Him, and may your strength be renewed.

Calix
Pastor